Name: The Souls On Jacobs Ladder 5
Brand: Damien Hirst
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Damien Hirst’s The Souls On Jacobs Ladder 5 (signed) is estimated to be worth between £12,500 and £19,000. This intaglio print, created in 2007, has shown a steady value growth with an average annual growth rate of 15%. This is a rare artwork with an auction history of three total sales since its entry to the market in June 2011. Over the past 12 months, the hammer price has ranged from £13,870 in October 2024 to £14,474 in April 2024. The average return to the seller is currently £12,046. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 72.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

October 2024

Christie's New York

United States

April 2024

Christie's New York

United States

September 2017

Sotheby's Online

United Kingdom

June 2011

Ketterer Kunst Hamburg

Germany

Meaning & Analysis

The Souls On Jacob’s Ladder 5 is an intaglio print from Damien Hirst’s The Souls On Jacob’s Ladder Take Their Flight series from 2007. The print shows an image of a butterfly with its wings outspread, set against a black backdrop. The butterfly is coloured with glowing shades of purple and has a luminous quality that stands out against the dark background.

Depicted in beautifully rich detail, the butterfly in the centre of the composition is striking in its colouring and its mimetic quality. Hirst’s concern with depicting his chosen subject matter in photographic detail stems from his work on ‘fact’ painting beginning in 2000. The artist’s aim with such works was to attempt to reproduce photographs in the traditional medium of oil on canvas. The realistic image of the butterfly plays with Hirst’s concern around facts and truth that photographs are assumed to depict.

The butterfly motif is a prominent figure that Hirst has used throughout his career to bring together themes around morality, life, love, faith and aesthetics. Speaking of his obsession with butterflies Hirst has explained, “I think rather than be personal you have to find universal triggers: everyone’s frightened of glass, everyone’s frightened of sharks, everyone loves butterflies.”

Damien Hirst, born in Bristol in 1965, is often hailed the enfant terrible of the contemporary art world. His provocative works challenge conventions and his conceptual brilliance spans installations, paintings, and sculptures, often exploring themes of mortality and the human experience. As a leading figure of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement in the late '80s, Hirst's work has dominated the British art scene for decades and has become renowned for being laced with controversy, thus shaping the dialogue of modern art.